Evaluation and selection of healthcare waste incinerators using extended sustainability criteria and multi-criteria analysis methods

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Disposal of healthcare waste is a key issue of environmental sustainability in the world. The amount of healthcare waste is increasing every day, and...     

Applying the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate the value of recreational ecosystem services in Sicily

This paper applies the Kuhn–Tucker model to estimate recreation demand of parks in Sicily. We estimate a fixed coefficient specification and a random coefficient specification to take into account heterogeneity across visitors. Estimates suggest a diversity of preferences across the population and that parks with higher level of quality attributes are more likely to be visited. We also simulate two sets of hypothetical policy scenarios to evaluate and compare the recreational value of each park and the welfare impacts of changes in a quality attribute.     

Emission factors of fine particulate matter,organic and elemental carbon,carbon monoxide,and carbon dioxide for four solid fuels commonly used in residential heating by the U.S. Navajo Nation

Most homes in the Navajo Nation use wood as their primary heating fuel, often in combination with locally mined coal. Previous studies observed health effects linked to this solid-fuel use in several Navajo communities. Emission factors (EFs) for common fuels used by the Navajo have not been reported using a relevant stove type. In this study, two softwoods (ponderosa pine and Utah juniper) and two high-volatile bituminous coals (Black Mesa and Fruitland) were tested with an in-use residential conventional wood stove (homestove) using a modified American Society for Testing and Materials/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (ASTM/EPA) protocol. Filter sampling quantified PM_2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm) and organic (OC) and elemental (EC) carbon in the emissions. Real-time monitoring quantified carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and total suspended particles (TSP). EFs for these air pollutants were developed and normalized to both fuel mass and energy consumed. In general, coal had significantly higher mass EFs than wood for all pollutants studied. In particular, coal emitted, on average, 10 times more PM_2.5 than wood on a mass basis, and 2.4 times more on an energy basis. The EFs developed here were based on fuel types, stove design, and operating protocols relevant to the Navajo Nation, but they could be useful to other Native Nations with similar practices, such as the nearby Hopi Nation.

Implications: Indoor wood and coal combustion is an important contributor to public health burdens in the Navajo Nation. Currently, there exist no emission factors representative of Navajo homestoves, fuels, and practices. This study developed emission factors for PM_2.5, OC, EC, CO, and CO₂ using a representative Navajo homestove. These emission factors may be utilized in regional-, national-, and global-scale health and environmental models. Additionally, the protocols developed and results presented here may inform on-going stove design of the first EPA-certified wood and coal combination stove.     

Environmental and Economic Criteria in Ranking of Copper Concentrates

Influence of the economic criterion, called Profit, on the ranking of copper concentrates is investigated. Values of the criterion, which correspond to alternatives, are derived as earning values obtained by the exploitation of individual concentrates. Various scenarios with respect to the weight w ₁₄, corresponding to the additional economical criterion, are defined and solved. A discrete set of results is generated, applying DECISION LAB software implementation of the PROMETHEE-GAIA methodology. Interpolating these results, we derived continuous interpolation functions which compute necessary quantities of concentrates for each real value of w ₁₄ within the interval [0, 100].     

REMOVAL OF FLOODWATER SEDIMENTS BY A CLEARCUT TUPELO-CYPRESS WETLAND1

ABSTRACT: A palustrine water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.)-baldcy-press (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) swamp in southwestern Alabama was subjected to three types of disturbance, including helicopter logging, rubber-tired skidder logging simulation, and helicopter logging followed by an herbicide application. An adjacent undisturbed stand served as a control area. Post-harvest collection of sedimentation data revealed that the herbaceous and woody vegetation regrowth within the helicopter and skidded clearcut areas trapped more sediments than did the control or herbicide treatment areas. Clearcutting, followed by plant regrowth, improved the wet-land's capacity to remove sediments from overbank flow flood waters.     

Mineralogy and characterization of deposited particles of the aero sediments collected in the vicinity of power plants and the open pit coal mine: Kolubara (Serbia)

In this paper, particular attention was paid to the presence of aerosol solid particles, which occurred mainly as a result of exploitation and coal combustion in the thermal power plants of the Kolubara basin. Not all of the particles created by this type of anthropogenic pollution have an equal impact on human health, but it largely depends on their size and shape. The mineralogical composition and particle size distribution in the samples of aero sediments were defined. The samples were collected close to the power plant and open pit coal mine, in the winter and summer period during the year 2007. The sampling was performed by using precipitators placed in eight locations within the territory of the Lazarevac municipality. In order to characterize the sedimentary particles, several methods were applied: microscopy, SEM-EDX and X-ray powder diffraction. The concentration of aero sediments was also determined during the test period. Variety in the mineralogical composition and particle size depends on the position of the measuring sites, geology of the locations, the annual period of collecting as well as possible interactions. By applying the mentioned methods, the presence of inhalational and respiratory particles variously distributed in the winter and in the summer period was established. The most common minerals are quartz and feldspar. The presence of gypsum, clay minerals, calcite and dolomite as secondary minerals was determined, as well as the participation of organic and inorganic amorphic matter. The presence of quartz as a toxic mineral has a particular impact on human health.     

Precipitation composition and wet deposition temporal pattern in Central Serbia for the period from 1998 to 2004

Bulk samples collected on a daily basis at three principal meteorological stations in central Serbia were analyzed on chloride (Cl(-)), nitrate [Formula: see text], sulfate [Formula: see text], sodium (Na(+)), ammonium [Formula: see text], potassium (K(+)), calcium (Ca(2+)), and magnesium (Mg(2+)) in addition to precipitation amount, pH and conductivity measurements over the period 1998-2004. The data were subjected to variety of analyses (linear regression, principal component analysis, time series analysis) to characterize precipitation chemistry in the study area. The most abundant ion was [Formula: see text] with annual volume weighted mean concentration of 242 microeq L(-1). Neutralization of precipitation acidity occurs both as a result of the dissolution of alkaline compounds containing Ca(2+), Mg(2+), and K(+) as well as the absorption of ammonia. The ratio of [Formula: see text] was above 5, which indicated that the combustion process of low-grade domestic lignite for electricity generation from coal-fired thermal power plants was the main source of pollution in the investigated area. A considerable mean annual bulk wet deposition of SO(4)-S determined by precipitation amount and concentrations of sulfate in the precipitation was calculated to be 12-35 kg ha(-1).     

Temporal and spatial infection dynamics indicate recognition events in the early hours of a dinoflagellate/coral symbiosis

The obligate symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium spp. and reef building corals is re-established each host generation. The solitary coral Fungia scutaria Lamarck 1801 harbors a single algal strain, Symbiodinium ITS2 type C1f (homologous strain) during adulthood. Previous studies have shown that distinct algal ITS2 types in clade C correlate with F. scutaria—Symbiodinium specificity during the onset of symbiosis in the larval stage. The present study examined the early specificity events in the onset of symbiosis between F. scutaria larvae and Symbiodinium spp., by looking at the temporal and spatial infection dynamics of larvae challenged with different symbiont types. The results show that specificity at the onset of symbiosis was mediated by recognition events during the initial symbiont—host physical contact before phagocytosis, and by subsequent cellular events after the symbionts were incorporated into host cells. Moreover, homologous and heterologous Symbiodinium sp. strains did not exhibit the same pattern of localization within larvae. When larvae were infected with homologous symbionts (C1f), ~70% of the total acquired algae were found in the equatorial area of the larvae, between the oral and aboral ends, 21 h after inoculation. In contrast, no spatial difference in algal localization was observed in larvae infected with heterologous symbionts. This result provides evidence of functional differences among gastrodermal cells, during development of the larvae. The cells in the larval equator function as nutritive phagocytes, and also appear to function as a region of enhanced symbiont acquisition in F. scutaria.     

Ozone-induced changes in CO2 assimilation, O2 evolution and chlorophyll a fluorescence transients in barley

Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Klaxon) plants, 9 days old, were exposed to 0.05, 0.10 or 0.15 microl litre(-1) ozone (O3) for 12 days. Fumigation was administered for 7 h between 9.00 h and 16.00 h each day. Using conventional IRGA equipment, the carbon dioxide exchange rate (CER) was shown to decrease with increasing concentration of O3 during the exposure period, falling to 60% of the control value at the highest O3 concentration. Transpiration rates and stomatal conductance showed similar trends. Light saturation curves, obtained using a leaf disc oxygen electrode, demonstrated that O3-treated leaves had lower apparent quantum yields (QY) and generally lower rates of O2 evolution at saturating light and CO2 levels. Oscillations in chlorophyll a fluorescence, normally observed in control plants, could not be detected after O3 treatment and could only be restored to some extent by feeding the phosphate sequestering agent D-mannose to the leaves.     

Adaptation of land management in the Mediterranean under scenarios of irrigation water use and availability

Meeting the growing demand for food in the future will require adaptation of water and land management to future conditions. We studied the extent of different adaptation options to future global change in the Mediterranean region, under scenarios of water use and availability. We focused on the most significant adaptation options for semiarid regions: implementing irrigation, changes to cropland intensity, and diversification of cropland activities. We used Conversion of Land Use on Mondial Scale (CLUMondo), a global land system model, to simulate future change to land use and land cover, and land management. To take into account future global change, we followed global outlooks for future population and climate change, and crop and livestock demand. The results indicate that the level of irrigation efficiency improvement is an important determinant of potential changes in the intensity of rain-fed land systems. No or low irrigation efficiency improvements lead to a reduction in irrigated areas, accompanied with intensification and expansion of rain-fed cropping systems. When reducing water withdrawal, total crop production in intensive rain-fed systems would need to increase significantly: by 130% without improving the irrigation efficiency in irrigated systems and by 53% under conditions of the highest possible efficiency improvement. In all scenarios, traditional Mediterranean multifunctional land systems continue to play a significant role in food production, especially in hosting livestock. Our results indicate that significant improvements to irrigation efficiency with simultaneous increase in cropland productivity are needed to satisfy future demands for food in the region. The approach can be transferred to other similar regions with strong resource limitations in terms of land and water.